Former Nigerian Military Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar (Rtd) has advised Nigerians to vote out incompetent leaders in next year’s general elections rather than complain about the state of the nation.
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The former Military leader made his thoughts known while speaking at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, during the 2018 Distinguished Annual Lecture for Senior Executive Course 40 participants, which has Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as Special Guest of Honour.
While speaking on the state of the nation, the Abdusalami Abubakar condemned the practice of vote-buying by politicians, insisting that it must be discouraged by all means.
Excerpts from his statement read;
“Every citizen has a duty. You must not sell your vote. You must register to vote. Stop criticising the failures of government, go and vote them out if you think those voted are not doing their job.
We must all try to work on our nationhood through constitutional and policy framework. It is only in this way that we can ignite responsible leadership for the country.
It is through this approach that we can truly build national institutions that will enthrone justice and equity.”
The former Head of State further expressed his displeasure at the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registered 91 political parties. He described it as an “unwholesome development.”
He said it was not helpful for Nigeria’s democracy to have that much political parties adding that most of the registered parties lacked ideologies and were regional or sectional in composition.
Abdusalami Abubakar concluded by calling on INEC to be transparent in its activities if it wished to engender confidence among Nigerians.